[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 793 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 793

Condemning all efforts to suppress and intimidate voters in the United 
States and reaffirming that the right to vote is a fundamental right of 
                  all eligible United States citizens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 22, 2004

 Ms. Watson (for herself, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Filner, 
Ms. Eshoo, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Owens, 
 Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. McDermott, Ms. 
    Solis, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs. Tauscher, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
California, Mr. Honda, Mr. Towns, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
 Jefferson, Ms. Norton, Ms. Waters, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Corrine 
Brown of Florida, Mr. Clyburn, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 Rush, Mr. Watt, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Ms. Majette, Mr. Meek 
  of Florida, Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Thompson of 
    Mississippi, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Millender-
 McDonald, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. 
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Ford, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Meeks of New York, Ms. 
    Lee, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, and Mr. Clay) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
 in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning all efforts to suppress and intimidate voters in the United 
States and reaffirming that the right to vote is a fundamental right of 
                  all eligible United States citizens.

Whereas the ratification of the 15th amendment to the Constitution in 1870 
        affirmed that the right to vote in the United States could not be denied 
        to African Americans on account of race;
Whereas widespread violence throughout the southern United States in 1877 was 
        accompanied by the Federal Government's abandonment of policies adopted 
        during the Reconstruction era;
Whereas the African American vote was ruthlessly suppressed through violence, 
        intimidation, and corruption during the remainder of the 19th century 
        and the first half of the 20th century;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stands today as one of the signal 
        legislative achievements of modern history, and without its passage into 
        law meaningful voting rights for African Americans may not have been 
        secured;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory requirements such 
        as poll taxes and literacy tests in many southern States;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 addressed exclusionary tests 
        used to prevent citizens from voting in 20 States throughout the Nation;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to a great upsurge in voter 
        registration, voting, and other forms of political participation by 
        African Americans throughout the southern United States and the rest of 
        the Nation;
Whereas, despite the gains made by African Americans in securing their right to 
        vote, new roadblocks have been successfully erected, including diluting 
        the African American vote by switching to at-large elections, preventing 
        African Americans from becoming candidates or obtaining office, voter 
        fraud, the discriminatory selection of election officials, denying 
        African Americans access to precinct meetings, and the harassment and 
        outright exclusion of African Americans from polling places;
Whereas voters in the United States, particularly African Americans and other 
        minorities, have faced calculated and determined efforts at voter 
        intimidation and suppression in every national election since the 
        Reconstruction era;
Whereas voter intimidation and suppression are not the province of a single 
        political party;
Whereas examples of voter intimidation and suppression during the previous 2 
        decades include challenges and threats against individual voters at the 
        polls by armed private guards, off-duty law enforcement officers, local 
        creditors, fake poll monitors, and poll workers and managers; signs 
        posted at polling places warning of penalties for voter fraud and non-
        citizen voting or illegally urging support for a candidate; poll workers 
        assisting voters in filling out their ballots and instructing them on 
        how to vote; criminal tampering with voter registration rolls and 
        records; fliers and radio advertisements containing false information 
        about where, when, and how to vote, voter eligibility, and threats of 
        penalties; roadblocks near polling areas that intimidate voters; and 
        internal memos from party officials in which the explicit goal of 
        suppressing African American voter turnout is outlined;
Whereas there were a number of troubling instances of voter intimidation in 
        addition to the myriad technical problems during the November 2000 
        Presidential election in Florida;
Whereas the State of Florida attempted to purge its voter lists of alleged 
        felons, predominately African Americans, in 2001;
Whereas the State of Florida attempted to purge its voter lists again in 2004, 
        but abandoned its efforts after receiving national criticism;
Whereas Florida State police officers entered the homes of elderly African 
        American voters in Orlando, Florida, in August 2004 and interrogated 
        them as part of an investigation that has frightened many voters, 
        intimidated elderly volunteers, and stifled some efforts to encourage 
        African Americans to vote in 2004; and
Whereas, in response to the voting irregularities in Florida, the Help America 
        Vote Act of 2002 required States to upgrade aging voting equipment, 
        create more accurate voter rolls, and make efforts to prevent eligible 
        voters from being turned away at the polls: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns in the strongest terms all efforts to suppress 
        and intimidate voters in the United States;
            (2) reaffirms that voting is a fundamental right of all 
        eligible United States citizens;
            (3) urges States to replace decades-old election machinery 
        with less error-prone equipment before the November 2004 
        national elections;
            (4) calls upon all States to institute a moratorium on the 
        erection of roadblocks or identity checkpoints designed to 
        racially profile or intimidate voters on Election Day; and
            (5) calls upon the Attorney General to vigorously monitor 
        and investigate all credible allegations of voter intimidation 
        and suppression and to expeditiously prosecute all offenders to 
        the full extent of the law.
                                 <all>